Category: Daytrips

Sights of Cape Cod: Spohr Gardens

These privately owned gardens on Cape Cod’s Oyster Pond are a tranquil setting for an afternoon stroll or a lovely venue for an intimate wedding. Spring bursts in to bloom here with Daffodil Days and the gardens are in perpetual bloom for the rest of the year. Be sure to include this sight on your Cape Cod Vacation.

Daffodil Days

Daffodils at Spohr Gardens

Each year, the gardens celebrate Daffodil Days with guided tours, activities for children and hundreds of thousands of daffodils. You can take home a piece of the Gardens by purchasing plants from the shop. Purchases help to support the upkeep and maintenance of the Gardens and the volunteer efforts of the Friends of Spohr Gardens.

How the Gardens Grow

Volunteers keep these gardens beautifully maintained. With six acres of gardens, this location can be viewed in a pleasant afternoon. It is filled with pathways and trails, each taking visitors to delightful and surprising spots. We encourage you to sit and enjoy all the sights and sounds.

Flowers that can be found in season include tulips, azaleas, magnolias, flowering crab apples, rhododendrons that are over 40 years old, lilies, and climbing hydrangeas. Cape Cod has milder weather than the surrounding area so the blooms last that much longer.

History of Spohr Gardens

Lilly of the Valley

Margaret and Charles D. Spohr began creating the gardens setting their home in the 1950s and welcomed the ever-growing number of visitors who had heard of its beauty. In 2001 the property was passed to their Charitable Trust with the stipulation that the gardens would be open to the public every day of the year from 8am to 8pm. No admission may be charged but tax deductible donations are accepted.

This beautiful garden will refresh and revitalize you — not just with it’s beauty, but also with the spirit of it’s donors.

Directions to the Gardens

From Falmouth, take either Woods Hole Road or Surf Drive to Oyster Pond Road to Fells Road. There is a small parking area near the property at 45 Fells Road.

Fall is prime time for birdwatching in Falmouth. Salt marshes such as those in Sippewisset offer great viewing opportunities for birds such as egrets and great blue herons. The Cape is renowned for its open spaces and beautiful beaches and remains a prime destination for vacationers and weekend tourists. In addition the Cape is known for bird watching due to its coastal topography and proximity to the sea. On any given morning it’s not uncommon to find bird people on our beaches or walking through secluded trails with binoculars and spotting scopes scanning for birds. Coastlines are wonderful places for birds to gather. Experts believe that this fall in particular is going to be very interesting, with lots of diversity of species.

This time of year is the tail end of the snowbird migration season with some birds overstaying plus the arrivals of winter birds such as sea ducks and mergansers. Fall is also a great time to watch hawks and other raptors.

During this time one will also see shore birds, especially on mud flats.

Getting into birding is very straightforward. One needs minimal equipment such as binoculars and a field bird identification guide such as Pearson, Audubon or Sibley’s. A visit to the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History is a good way to learn about birds and identification. If you decide to go out on your own, beaches, open fields and salt marches are good places to observe birds. It is not always critical to identify birds, it is perfectly fine to just go outside and watch the birds.

One of the most frequent day trips that our Palmer House guests take is a ferry ride to Martha’s Vineyard.

For your convenience, we sell the tickets at the inn. After disembarking the ferry we recommend taking the tour bus to get an over view the island.

The sightseeing busses on the Vineyard run from Memorial Day weekend through September. They meet every Steamship Authority and Island Queen ferry from 9:00 am through 3:15 pm. They give a fully narrated tour with state-licensed drivers who are also professional guides.

The towns on Martha’s Vineyard offer surprising diversity, each with its own character and personality. For those who are interested in history, Edgartown presents an architectural memorial to whaling’s golden age. Aquinnah or Gay Head as it was named in the past is recognized world-wide for its clay cliffs and natural beauty, while West Tisbury is a typical New England village right out of a Currier and Ives print. Menemsha is a working fishing village and its claim to fame is that it is where the motion picture “Jaws” was filmed. Oak Bluffs is internationally known for its charming Victorian “ginger bread style” cottages.

The tours take approximately two and a half hours and includes a thirty minute stop at the Aquinnah cliffs.

Tickets are $29.00 and can be purchased aboard the bus.

More information on Martha’s Vineyard

While all of the bedchambers at the Palmer House have their own romantic charm suitable for relaxation after the most wonderful day of adventures traveling Cape Cod, we recommend the Harriet Beecher Stowe room, the Theodore Roosevelt room or the Emily Dickinson room. These rooms feature comfortable king beds, fireplaces, jacuzzi-style tubs for a relaxing stay before and after your day.

Upcoming Events

“Hundreds of unique glass ornaments made by the region’s finest local Cape Cod glass artists, will adorn Christmas trees in the Contemporary Gallery. The visitor will be transported into a magical display of color and childhood memories. …

Join the Heritage Museums & Gardens for their annual celebration of lights. The celebration features music and dance performances at 6:30 in the Automobile Gallery. St. Nick will hold court in the Model T. Gingerbread houses …